Diana advanced landmine ban

As the world marks the 20th anniversary of the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car crash on Aug. 31, 1997, it is only fitting to remember the crucial role that she played in a Canadian-led effort to establish an international treaty to ban the use of landmines.

"Diana had a long history of supporting causes that were controversial in their time but alleviated the suffering of others, most famously her work promoting the acceptance of HIV/AIDs patients," royal expert Carolyn Harris stated in an email.

"Diana’s work with the British Red Cross and Hazardous Areas Life Support Organization led to her advocacy for the removal of landmines," explained Harris, who earned a PhD in history from Queen’s University and is currently a history instructor at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies.

"After her divorce, Diana was looking for philanthropic initiatives that did not conflict with the causes already supported by other members of the Royal Family and she wanted to assist those who had been injured by landmines," Harris added.

Diana used her star power to draw attention to the scourge of landmines, which kill and maim civilians long after a conflict has ended. And the Princess of Wales focused the world’s attention on that injustice in the most dramatic fashion.

On Jan. 15, 1997, Diana walked into a minefield in Angola, a country littered with landmines. And with journalists looking on, the princess detonated a landmine in a controlled explosion.

According to Harris, "there was some concern for Diana’s safety on the tour as she was walking through a recently cleared minefield and helping an expert deactivate a mine."

"There was global interest in Diana’s visit to Angola," said Harris, whose latest book is Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting. "The Angola visit demonstrated that Diana’s philanthropy was continuing after the breakdown of her marriage and that she was taking on a powerful new initiative."

Earlier this year, Prince Harry spoke about his mother’s legacy at the Landmine Free 2025 reception held at Kensington Palace, marking International Landmine Awareness Day.

"Twenty years ago, in the last months of her life, my mother campaigned to draw attention to the horrific and indiscriminate impact of landmines," Prince Harry stated in a prepared address.

"She visited affected areas such as Huambo in Angola and Travnik in Bosnia. She heard how people in these communities lived in constant fear that each step may be their last. She met with those who had suffered life-changing injuries as a result of anti-personnel mines, she listened to their stories, and helped share them with the world."

The princess was determined to make a positive difference. "She refused to accept that these destructive weapons should be left where they were, just because they were perceived as too expensive and difficult to remove," Prince Harry declared.

How did the Royal Family respond to Diana’s campaign?

"Diana’s visit to Angola was personally approved by the Queen, and Diana was briefed on the British position regarding landmines by the foreign office," according to Harris. "After Diana’s death in 1997, the Royal Family honoured her wishes by sending a donation that she had promised to a landmine survivor in Bosnia for a new prosthesis."

Ottawa Process

Back in the 1990s, landmines were routinely used by militaries around the globe. But most of the time, the victims of those indiscriminate weapons were women and children, which prompted the International Red Cross to identify landmines as a public health problem, former Canadian foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy said in a telephone interview.

The Great Powers "were prepared to do a little tweaking, but they weren’t going to give up landmines," said Axworthy, who served in the Chretien government and led the international campaign to ban landmines. "At the same time, there had been an emergence of a really strong civil society movement" to ban landmines that "provided an alternative" to the moribund UN disarmament process, he recalled.

"There was just a kind of general development around the idea in a much more of a public process that started to take place," Axworthy continued. "And that’s when I think the decision to go with a treaty really was made in Ottawa at a preconference at which there was no agreement between some of the top nuclear countries and civil societies.

"That’s when we made the call to start an immediate process to completely ban landmines. I invited everybody to come back a year hence in ’96. And that was really the beginning of the Ottawa Process," Axworthy explained, noting that some in the diplomatic world thought he was "crazy" for embarking on such an unconventional diplomatic campaign.

What was the Ottawa Process? According to the former foreign affairs minister, it was "an interesting coalition of certain countries, of which we [Canada] were very much in the lead." In the drive to negotiate a landmine treaty outside of the UN process, Canada worked with other Middle Powers — such as Norway, the Netherlands, Mozambique and Chile.

Outside the UN

In the autumn of 1996, Axworthy hosted an international gathering of representatives of more than 70 states and a coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) at the National Conference Centre in Ottawa.

"What happened, I think, at that October meeting, was that we took it outside the UN framework and started an individual process," Axworthy said of the fledgling landmine campaign.

"It became something that we just pioneered, a much more participatory political process/system than is normally the case in the Realpolitik world of international affairs," he explained. "It was grounded in a lot of public support. And that’s, of course, where princess Diana became a very key figure."

The famous photograph of the Princess of Wales walking in that Angolan minefield "galvanized public interest" in the issue, Axworthy said of Diana’s intervention.

Her involvement in the campaign was crucial "to develop a level of public understanding that landmines were not just something that were deadly during a war and in a conflict, but they had this long-term existence and increasing the number of victims," Axworthy explained.

Indeed, the humanitarian activism of the princess dovetailed with Canada’s promotion of the concept of human security, which means "you have to protect people, not just nation-states and traditional sovereignty," Axworthy said.

Soft power

Why was it important for Canada to bypass the United Nations disarmament process and launch the Ottawa Process to ban landmines?

"Because nothing was happening in Geneva," Axworthy answered. "The [Geneva] conference itself was dominated by the P5 [U.S., Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France] — the dominant countries" on the UN Security Council.

"In the ’90s, the Cold War was just over, and there was a lot more open attitude, a collective, co-operative action at the international level," Axworthy stated.

"The Ottawa Process became important not just because it resulted in a treaty to substantially reduce the negative impacts of landmines. It also became a model for how to bring about change and reform internationally. We followed that up with the International Criminal Court, using the same methodology: a group of key countries partnering with civil societies, partnering with international institutions."

According to Axworthy, "soft power includes influencing people’s attitudes, changing perceptions, using the power of persuasion, and using diplomatic tools to bring people together. All of those became incorporated in the Ottawa Treaty."

In the drive to ban landmines, Canada helped to cobble together a network of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world, including victims’ assistance groups, the Coalition to Ban Landmines, and various Middle Powers. Axworthy described the movement as "a team effort."

"I think we caught a lot of people unprepared," including the Americans, Axworthy recalled. "The Americans just weren’t in the game until very late. Then they discovered, ‘holy cow, there is a large-scale movement.’"

That more than 120 countries were prepared to sign onto the proposed Ottawa Treaty caught Washington’s attention — despite the strong resistance of the Pentagon to the notion of banning landmines.

Axworthy took a gamble by asking the treaty-signing conference to extend the proceedings by 36 hours while he and Prime Minister Jean Chretien undertook 11th-hour negotiations with the Clinton administration in a bid to get the United States to sign onto the Ottawa Treaty.

"At the last moment, Clinton decided not to do it; he was under pressure at home" from the Pentagon and powerful right-wing forces, Axworthy recalled.

"Bill Clinton, the many times I’ve talked to him, is filled with regret that he didn’t go ahead and become a major signatory" to the Ottawa Treaty, Axworthy revealed.

Although the U.S. is not a signatory, Washington nevertheless views the treaty as significant. For example, Axworthy notes that the Americans have been the largest donor for demining activities and assistance. "They were living up to 97 per cent of what the treaty contained," he said.

Diana and soft power

Did Diana exercise soft power during the landmine campaign?

"Yes, no question," Axworthy replied without hesitation. "There is no doubt that she probably had the most famous face in the world at the time.

"She brought the landmine campaign to the front page," Axworthy said of the princess. "She was, without a question, a major factor in creating a broad base of public support towards our treaty banning landmines."

Axworthy said that he made use of Diana’s "celebrity and support to establish a counterpoint to power politics of big players."

When Diana ventured into that minefield in Angola with the international media looking on, what was Axworthy’s reaction?

"I said, ‘Whoopee!’" he replied with a lilt in his voice as he recalled his excitement. "We were already in the process, consolidating and mobilizing support. But that was like a Hail Mary pass."

During the landmine campaign, Axworthy had communications with the Princess of Wales. And his final note to Diana was sent the very day she perished.

"The day I sent a letter to her, inviting her to the Ottawa meeting, was the very day that she was in Paris and killed in the car crash," Axworthy recollected. "It always struck me as a little bit of good news, bad news story," he said of the Ottawa Treaty and the tragic loss of the princess.

"I’m not saying we couldn’t have had a treaty without the picture [of Diana in the minefield]," Axworthy said. But in his view, Diana’s timely intervention created a surge of popular support culminating in "the eventual proclamation and ratification of the treaty."

According to the former foreign affairs minister, it usually takes eight t0 10 years to hammer out and ratify a treaty. But in the case of the Ottawa Treaty, it only took two years. "It is probably the fastest disarmament treaty to be signed," he said of the landmine campaign.

Death of the princess

What was Axworthy’s reaction when he heard the news of Diana’s death?

"It was a terrible shock," he replied.

"It didn’t diminish her influence. I think the enormous outpouring of grief and affection for her "¦ her influence continues to play out. The landmine treaty will continue very much to be associated with one of the things to which she made a contribution."

Even in death, Diana helped to advance the landmine agenda. After her funeral, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair hosted a luncheon attended by Axworthy, President Bill Clinton, and other foreign dignitaries.

Did the luncheon give Axworthy the opportunity to discuss the landmine campaign?

"Absolutely," he answered. "It was an incredible forum. And foreign ministers and leaders from a number of countries all assembled because of princess Diana. They were there to pay tribute to her. And obviously paying tribute to her and the landmine issue became synonymous."

In diplomacy and soft power, said Axworthy, "you have to use these kinds of occasions to make your case."

Obviously, the assembled world leaders and foreign ministers did not discuss the nitty gritty details of the landmine treaty.

"No, it wasn’t that occasion," Axworthy said. "We were really there to celebrate her life. It was a conversation generally about how and the role she played in mobilizing and generating interest in the landmine issue."

Lasting legacy

According to Harris, Diana "had a lasting impact on raising global awareness of the dangers of land mines." Not only was the Ottawa Treaty signed by 122 countries after Diana’s death in 1997, Harris noted that "the Nobel committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the campaign."

"Twenty years is not so long ago," Axworthy mused as the anniversary of Diana’s tragic death approached. "I feel we are vividly aware of how an important role she played in the Ottawa Process.

"Personally, I think a lot of people should be grateful that we had her as a major leading spokesperson. Sometimes you get the right combination of things happening. And we were able to do something that has saved a lot of lives and injuries since then. So I think it’s a real legacy," he said.